Biden’s African policy must embrace proposed African Economic Community Free Trade Area
The quest for African solidarity as is suggested by the formation of the African Economic Community Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) goes back to African leaders like Kwame Nkrumah and his desire for continent-wide economic decolonization. “The hasty launch of AfCFTA without addressing critical challenges will not fulfill the intended objectives of structural transformation of African economies,” a recent editorial in...
Dr. King civil rights leader or Pan Africanist?
Every year we in the United States celebrate the life and legacy of civil rights icon Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The celebrations frequently focus on Dr. King’s dream of ending discrimination in America. But those tributes rarely if ever mention Dr. King’s global, Pan African interests, which included attending the post-colonial inauguration in 1957 of Ghana’s newly...
Fifty years on the Nile dam that changed the face of Egypt
MANILA SULTAN, Egypt—Yassin Saeed remembers when the Nile’s annual flood drenched his village in the years before the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Now, former flood lands are green fields year-round. “Our lives were very hard,” said the 76-year-old Egyptian, recounting how his father, his brothers and other farmers had to use the traditional felucca sailboats to harvest the...
‘Who’s a sh-thole now?’ Africa responds to Trump and violent American insurrec-tion at U.S. Capitol
Africa has faced the problem of political leaders being unwilling to step down and concede elections and suffered from President Trump’s racist tirades against the continent. So there was strong reaction to his unwillingness to accept losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden. It was reflected in headlines like “Africa to Trump: Who’s a sh**thole now?” Many Africans were “unable to...
Guterres ‘shocked’ at massacre of civilians in eastern DR Congo
The United Nations Secretary-General has expressed shock at the massacre of civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and called on the authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. At least 25 villagers are reported to have been killed in recent attacks attributed to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militia in the villages of Tingwe, Mwenda and Nzenga,...
Zimbabwean teen teaches taekwondo to fight child marriage
HARARE, Zimbabwe—In Zimbabwe, where girls as young as 10 are forced to marry due to poverty or traditional and religious practices, a teenage taekwondo enthusiast is using the sport to give girls in an impoverished community a fighting chance at life. “Not many people do taekwondo here, so it’s fascinating for the girls, both married and single. I use it...
Israel uses Trump administration to get diplomatic ties with Morocco and Sudan
President Trump’s closing foreign policy initiatives have included a major effort to convince and coerce African and Asian nations to “normalize” relations with the state of Israel in exchange for promised U.S. financial, military and possibly diplomatic assistance. In recent past, Israel has been on a mission to strengthen and exploit its ties with Africa. Not only has Israel made...
UN, African Union reiterate commitment to Sudan, as joint mission ends operations
The United Nations Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission have reiterated their commitment to continue to support Sudan consolidate peace as the AU-UN hybrid peacekeeping mission in the country’s Darfur region ends its operations on Dec. 31. In a joint statement on Dec. 31, Secretary-General António Guterres and Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat also called on all Sudanese actors to...
Growing movement demands return of cultural art, artifacts
Two-years-ago, a study, “The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage,” found at least 90 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa’s cultural legacy remains preserved outside of the African continent. “Whereas many other regions of the world represented in Western Museum collections are still about to hold on to a significant portion of their own cultural and artistic heritage, this is not the case...
Freed Nigerian schoolboys welcomed; calls for more security
KATSINA, Nigeria—Bleary, barefoot, apparently numbed by a week of captivity, more than 300 Nigerian schoolboys, freed after being kidnapped in an attack on their school, were welcomed by the governor of Katsina state and Nigeria’s president on Dec. 18. Reunions with their parents began late in the day. “Since this incident happened, I have not been able to sleep, but...